Sukkah City Coming this Fall to Union Square Park

This fall, Union Square Park will host a dozen experimental takes on an ancient Jewish structure.

Journalist Joshua Foer is holding “Sukkah City,” a design contest seeking new interpretations on the sukkah, a temporary hut used by Jews during the holiday of Sukkot.

Celebration of this Sukkot, which commemorates both the biblical exodus and pre-winter harvest, dates back thousands of years. One of the holiday’s many traditions: building a sukkah, where – barring rain – families and friends spend the bulk of the holiday’s seven days and seven nights.

The sukkah is supposed to represent the interim homes of the Hebrews during the exodus. Among the sundry requirements: a sukkah should have two and a half walls and a roof made of a tree or plant, but nothing considered edible. Also, those inside should be able to see the sky through the roof.

Normally there are no limits as to how large a sukkah can be. But for the Union Square competition, there is an added rule: the city’s Department of Buildings defines a temporary structure as being no larger than 19 feet by eight feet.